Bottas looking forward to racing return

Valtteri Bottas says he can’t wait to return to racing at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix following a strong pre-season with the Williams Martini Racing team.

After a relatively short winter break, the F1 paddock returns to Melbourne for the start of what looks to be a highly dramatic and unpredictable season. The Finn is looking forward to seeing where the Mercedes-powered FW36 (now sporting the iconic Martini stripes) will sit in the competitive order.

“I am really looking forward to going to Melbourne,” said Bottas, who made his debut in Formula 1 at the Albert Park Circuit last year. “It’s a very nice track with a great atmosphere. It’s a new season and a new challenge, not just for me but for everyone. We will finally get to see where every team’s performance is.

“The track improves a lot throughout the weekend because it’s not a permanent race track which means that we have more grip each time we go out and so you have to make the right set-up changes for each session. I really enjoy the track and I can’t wait to get racing again.”

New team-mate Felipe Massa is hoping that the team’s new partnership with Martini can start on a positive note. “I love Melbourne, it’s a fantastic place and a really good atmosphere,” the Brazilian said.

“I like the track and it’s quite a challenging circuit. I am really looking forward to racing there this year and having a good start to the season with Williams Martini Racing.”

Rod Nelson, chief test and support engineer, says the team had a “productive” winter of testing, adding: “There’s always a great anticipation when we arrive in Australia, largely as it will be the best measure so far of where we line up against the opposition. It’s a good place to kick the season off and we are very much looking forward to it.”

Image courtesy of Williams Martini Racing

Jack Leslie

Jack Leslie is a freelance motorsport and Formula 1 journalist. He has been part of the Richland F1 team since the very start and made his F1 paddock debut for the website at the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix. Jack also writes for Car Throttle, RumbleStripNews, Formula1Blog, PureF1 and F1 Plus, as well as running a popular blog.